Future's Shadow
by Mordecai Kairo
Summary: A strange crossover about a survivor of the destruction of the Ketran homeworld. Please R/R!
1. Prologue

Author's Note: In the creation of this fic, I have combined parts of many different stories, and blended them together. Since the list of sources is too long to put here, I'll just say this: if you see an idea that you recognize from anywhere, I do not own the original idea; nor am I affiliated with anyone who does. Sorry about having the prologue as a single chapter; it turned out to be so long that I decided to split it from the first chapter. By the way, this fic is rated PG-13 for violence and mild sexuality. Also, don't forget to review after you are finished! With that said, read on!  
  
1 Prologue  
  
With the last crystal destroyed, the Capasin pilot guided his ship upward, and flew off, leaving the blood soaked crystal to fall three hundred miles to the surface below. The crystal, which had been blown into two halves by the Capasins' beam weapon, glittered in the evening sky as it fell. The pilot glanced downward, toward one half of the crystal. He almost felt sorry for the frail-winged, small creatures that had inhabited this planet. Turning his gaze to ahead, he made some small flight changes, and forgot about the crystal, sure that all trace of the creatures had been wiped out.  
  
However…  
  
Deep inside a cavern hidden for decades inside the larger crystal half, a Ketran female, barely more of an adolescent then a juvie, crouched in terror as gravity inevitably pulled the crystal to the surface. The child, Jilibyrn, had found the cave purely by accident; and coincidentally, no one knew about it. She had not the reasoning then to realize that a cave formation like the one she had found was an impossible occurrence; nor would she care if she knew this fact. From there on she had trained herself to overcome the instinctual claustrophobia of her heritage so she could use the cave as a 'fort' of sorts. She had flown into the cavern this time to hide from her friend Atchollit during a game of 'chase'. However, the playful mood had quickly switched to terror, when violent explosions were felt and screams of horror were heard; and when she had felt gravity as it overcame her home. Cut and bruised in several places, here she was now, panting and crouching. For what seemed like forever she sat there, alone, with a single phrase going through her head: what happened? After what seemed like an eternity, a vicious thud was felt, and the noise of sizzling reached her ears. Frighteningly quickly, lava seeped up through small fissures in the floor, which gradually became larger. Jilibyrn instinctively took flight, and flew down the tunnel and into the night sky with frightening speed. Seeing the ground as close as it was panicked her, and she shot off into the sky like a beam of light. There were no emotions flowing through her mind except terror, pure terror. She raced upward, upward, until the ground was 50 miles below her. She looked down. The last of her crystal, her home, could be seen sinking into the Iilos lava swamp. Now that the panic was gone, the exhaustion, pain, and deep sorrow set in. For now, she suppressed her grief, and flew on, searching for a perch to rest her tired wings and sore pods. As she looked on, she saw a small bat fly by. Realizing that where bats went, there were perches, she followed it, being careful not to disturb its flight or scare it in any way. The bat took a sudden dive downward. She waited a second, and then plunged down after it. She could see it aiming for a field of new crystal growth. As they she neared the surface, she could see a small bat-hole. The bat plunged into its little hole but Jilibyrn, however, cut speed and landed on a spar of crystal. She took a moment to catch her breath. All at once, the sorrow came in a wave of sickness. All of her family, her friends, her ups, downs, neighbors, all of them dead. And the worst thing was, she didn't know what killed them. She had no idea if they could have been saved or not. She thought of all the other crystals, and wondered vaguely if the same had happened to them. For the sake of her race, she hoped with her heart the others were okay. Jilibyrn curled up, unused to the feel of gravity near the ground but familiar with the texture of crystal, and cried herself to sleep.  
  
When Jilibyrn awoke again, the sun had already risen part-way up the sky, and the morning dew had long since evaporated. She no longer felt any sorrow; indeed, she felt little emotion at all. She took flight, and instantly her muscles cried out in pain. She did a droop in the air, and then landed back down on the crystal hardly, as if she was drunk. New pain assailed her, as yesterday's wounds were torn open again from the exertion. Forgetting any thought of flight, she did what no Ketran had done before: she set out on foot, or rather, on pod. Walking was at first very awkward for her, as her pods were meant for resting on, not walking, but she soon developed a strange, lopsided gait that worked for her. Using her arms to balance, she made her way down a crevice of crystal, looking for food, water, and more importantly, shelter. She knew that as soon as noon set in, the strangle-vines would awaken; therefore, it was vital that she find a cave to stay in before then. After many hours of searching, her energy almost drained, she spotted a small cleft in a sheer cliff. With the last ounce of energy, she gave one powerful swoop of her four wings, and glided into the narrow opening. She fell onto the cave floor, exhausted. Jilibyrn suddenly felt as if her head was empty of thought; but she quickly realized that the quietness in her head was due to her disconnection from the uninet. Almost laughing, she thanked the sky that there were no more time cues, no memms, no 'items of interest' which vexed her so. A shuffling noise reached her ears. Her ears instantly perked up; she was afraid a strangle-vine had awoken early, and had picked up her scent. A strange, stooping figure came into her view, quite the opposite from the dreaded vine. She was surprised; no other life like this had been found on Ket at all. Suddenly, a brilliant white light blinded her eyes. It grew brighter, and brighter, until she could not take the pain, and she blacked out.  
  
She woke with a start, not even realizing that she had been unconscious. Jilibyrn vaguely remembered the stooped creature, and the flash of light. Disturbed, she got up from the floor of the cave. She crawled toward the entrance. Looking both ways to make sure no strangle vines were near, she took flight, and headed for a nearby spar of crystal. She landed, gripping the hard…nothingness??? Suddenly, she saw not her homeworld of Ket, but something vastly different. She saw the inside, outside, front, back, and all sides of everything at once. She could look down, and not only see her pods, but also see inside them, around them. She could see the blood flowing through her body. And as she looked further, she could see the cells, the molecules, the protons, electrons, neutrons, the quarks…and then, she saw the very fabric of the universe, the threads of space-time woven into a trillion, trillion threads of infinite complexity. The effect was extreme disorientation. A voice that was not physically heard, but understood just the same said Not at all what you'd expect it to be, is it?   
  
She looked up. A being of unimaginable size was standing over her. What has happened? Where am I? Jilibyrn said, unwittingly speaking in the being's 'language'. You are in your universe, yes. You are merely looking at it from my, shall I say, perspective.   
  
Please tell me what happened. Jilibyrn pleaded.  
  
Your species is effectively extinct. A race called the Capasins flew their ships to your planet, wiped out your race, and took the planet for their benefit. A handful escaped, but they will meet their end.   
  
Who are you? At this the creature paused, and finally said,  
  
I am everything and nothing. I can exist fundamentally in all dimensions, and I am independent of everything that limited you so. I exist beyond time; I can see you now, and see you now: the now that was five minutes ago. The now that was an hour ago. The now that will be a century from this now.   
  
Why have you brought me here?   
  
I am giving you another chance. There is a world far from yours that is newly formed. In fact, it has formed…now. Jilibyrn suddenly saw a view of the planet. It was disk-shaped, an odd characteristic of a planet. The being said, The planet is called Albion by its species. In time as you and I have seen it, the species will have now evolved into a civilization. I can give you a chance to rebuild Ket – but not as true Ketrans. Although you will have a body very similar to your original Ketran body, it will have the limitations of the home race. In fact, you will be one of them. I may be able to bring back some of your friends, or acquaintances. However, I must warn you, you will not come to life again for a long time, as that is how fate – and a little understanding of time's pathways – works   
  
What are they like?   
  
They are not space faring. Indeed, they know very little about the universe, having a vast hydrogen cloud draped around their planet. But, they have a semi-advanced civilization on the surface. They call themselves Norns. They live with two other races: the industrialist Ettins, and the violent Grendels.   
  
Will the transfer be easy?   
  
You will seem to die, but you will merely be in the 'rebirthing' stage. You will be born again in your new body, retaining all your memories of course. But yes, the transfer is easy enough.   
  
Then I will do it.   
  
As you wish.   
  
Jilibyrn looked up at the entity, and saw no more. 


	2. Strange Beginnings

All was still in the dome. Although it had been discovered years ago, no one had bothered since to visit, let alone live there. Yet, a single egg could just be seen behind the tall pear plant. The egg had been there for at least a year, but had not moved, hatched, or even decayed since. Something stirred; the egg was at last hatching. And as the cracks rang out in the stillness of the dome, a different sound, a cry that hadn't been sounded since the turn of the last century, rang out across Albion.  
  
1 Many years before…  
  
Toomin opened the shunt, and was all at once inside the game. He floated bodiless above the virtual world. Searching for the species that inhabited the planet, he flew above the squat, stunted treetops. He landed on the virtual ocean. He looked forward at the…airlock??? He gave a loud yelp of surprise; frantically searching around for the virtual world he had been in, for his dock, his neighbors, his home. What he saw was rock surrounding him on all sides, an airlock type door, and dirt instead of crystal beneath him. He looked behind himself, and saw a myriad of fantastically colored plants growing among a world of insects. For some strange reason, the panic inside him subsided, and he found himself mesmerized by the scene. He suddenly realized that his usual Ketran claustrophobia was absent. Glancing at the walls, he suddenly felt extremely bored, as if he were a juvie all over again. "And a juvie you are," said a strange voice behind him. He whirled around. He saw a very strange creature standing in front of him. It was short, with legs obviously built for a ground dweller, but hands not that much unlike his own, with no docking talons and a large, round head. It also had big, stiff looking ears, and large, round eyes. It continued, "My name is not important, and since I have not the liberty to interfere much, I will not be here long. However, I will answer your question: you indeed are not on Ket anymore. In fact, you are three billion years and four thousand light-years away from your home, and the Ketran race is long gone from your planet." Toomin took the information as a blow to the mind. "Egh eem dith dat?" he said. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he covered his mouth, and wondered why he couldn't utter a coherent sentence. The creature smiled, and said "Maybe this will be of some assistance." Although Toomin felt nothing, when he attempted to speak again, he found himself speaking in a language that was strange to them. "What?????" Toomin cried fearfully.  
  
"I have brought you through time and space to this world. It is hard to explain to such a simple creature," said the strange being. At this Toomin gave the creature a fiery look, but said nothing. The creature continued "Approximately three billion years ago, the Capasin race exterminated your race. You were not killed, but I shall not reveal to you what happened to the 'you' back then. I have copied your consciousness: you now exist simultaneously in two places in the universe. But since both yous are different, they can peacefully coexist. My reason: I am giving you a chance not to undo the damage caused by the Capasins, but to rebuild what has been lost. You may notice: I have given you another body, one that is very like your original, but will never be the same." Toomin looked at himself. He saw his docking talons, his pods, and if he twisted around far enough, he could see his…one pair of wings? He shrieked loudly, every emotion that had been bottled up since his arrival now escaping in one long, loud cry. The creature gave no notice of his sudden outburst. It continued, "Your body is not truly Ketran, but rather, is a different breed of the race of Norns. You will live on their planet, speak their language, eat their food, socialize with them, and if you wish, interbreed with them. I regret having to give you a child's body, but it could not be avoided." Toomin gazed up at the creature, and noticed for the first time that it had bright, gleaming green eyes. The creature said, "The body I occupy is not real, but is merely an image, a projection of the true me. This body is that of a Norn. Your other self took a path very similar to mine." At this, Toomin felt a chill crawl up his spine. "I cannot tell you any more for now, as I have other matters to attend to," the creature said. Toomin quickly blurted, "Am I the only one? To be chosen, I mean."  
  
"No. I have brought a few others. Aguella. Menno, and his friend, Exagal. And an acquaintance you met many years before, at the Dance By with the Mid- Tropical Low Crystal Three. She was only an infant when you met her, but she is here, too. Her DNA was used to create this body." The Norn moved its hand in a gesture toward Toomin. And all at once, it disappeared, leaving behind a very confused and scared Toomin.  
  
And around the world, eggs started to hatch.  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
Toomin peered down the long hall. After an hour of trying, he had finally figured out how to open the door. Although a normal surface-dweller would have figured it out in no time, Toomin had never heard of a door, let alone used one, since Ketrans had had absolutely no need for them back on Ket. He had also found that, for now, his wings were not strong enough to lift him. He hoped that they would strengthen as he grew. He could walk, but in a strange, slow, shuffling manner due to the fact that he still had pods instead of legs. The first object he noticed as he had walked out the door was a strange metal thing that looked to be a teleporter. He had not used it, for fear of where it would take him. Now, he walked down a long, transparent plastic tube. He could see sun at the end. As Toomin drew nearer, he could see that the tube led to a tree house. Unexpectedly, a creature like the strange being came into his view. 'A Norn,' he thought to himself. However, it was a dark purple, almost black, and it had startlingly green eyes. It turned its big head in his direction. It growled, and started to walk down towards him menacingly. Toomin, immediately turned, and ran as fast as his stubby pods would carry him, which, unfortunately, wasn't very fast. He remembered the metal thing. With a new purpose, he ran, using his arms to aid him, down the tube. He could hear the Norn behind him; it was running now, and it was closing the gap quickly. Toomin reached the pad, and saw two buttons. The Norn was upon him. Toomin decided to gamble; anyplace was better than the situation he was in now. As the Norn lifted its arm to strike him snarling, he pushed the red button.  
  
With a bright flash, he disappeared.  
  
When Toomin recovered from the flash, he was standing on what looked to be a larger version of the teleporter he had used. Fortunately, he looked to be in a relatively benign cavern, with soft lighting and warmth everywhere. Toomin stepped down from the pad. He pushed his way through some strange, leafy plants, and found himself in patch of weird, red fruits. There was a narrow trail through the plants. He followed the trail, not eager to upset whomever the patch belonged to, not after his last experience! He wound his way through until he found a clearing. In the clearing, he saw a large computer, a ball (which looked quite good to his childlike mind), a strange, triangular yellow thing that smelt tasty, and an odd machine. Further out, he saw a water pump, and a small fish-pond. He shuffle-walked toward the pond, sensing something strange about it. As he neared it, he saw some green plants growing out of the wet soil. He looked closer, and saw that the green fronds led to an orange root. Although the root smelled better than the triangular thing, he thought better of pulling one up to get a closer look. "Where did you come from, little one?" a voice said from behind him. Toomin spun around, startled by the voice. He saw a Norn, but unlike any he had seen before. It was bald, like the others, but it had short, floppy ears, unlike the stiff, big ears of the few Norns he had seen. It had soft tan fur, and a short, limp tail that was different from the flexible tails of the others. "I won't hurt you," the Norn said in a soothing voice. It approached closer, and as it did, he could sense that it was female. She crooned, "Now where is your mother, little one?" Toomin remained silent, not sure whether to trust her. The Norn came closer still, and as she got a full look at him, she said, "My, I haven't seen any others like you around here. I wonder if you are a breed from the Outside?" At this, she hesitated, seemingly carrying out a mental battle with herself. After a moment, she made a decision, and continued to approach him. Toomin cried, "Don't hurt me! I'm not a threat!" The female Norn said, "No, of course not," but from her tone, it seemed as if she was reassuring herself more than Toomin. She picked up Toomin, making him suddenly realize how small he was. She cradled him in her arms, and whispered softly to him, "Don't worry, you'll be alright," As if it were a wave of water, the exhaustion fell over him, and fell fast asleep in the Norn's arms.  
  
Toomin woke up later in a comfortable bed of sweet-smelling leaves. He rose slowly into a semi-sitting position, and yawned contentedly. The female Norn returned. "Ah, so you're awake now," she said almost thoughtfully. "My name is Aftran. You are in the Incubatorium, the place where babies are born." She gestured behind her, and he saw several other Norns of various sexes, shapes, and sizes. She continued, "I find it strange, however, that you are so young yet you speak as if you were a fully grown adult, but with no knowledge of worldwide customs. Also, throughout all this knowledge of language, I still haven't seen your kind anywhere – and even my father, an expert on the cultures and breeds of the Outside, has not heard of your kind before. You look as if you fly – but the only known Norns that are flighted are the Angel Norns, and they are a far cry from your looks. Not meaning to be insulting, of course." Toomin spoke up for the first time I what seemed to him like ages, saying, "I was born somewhere else. I don't know if it's where this Outside place is, or if it's some totally unrelated area, but all I remember is coming out of a strange airlock thing, and being attacked by one of your kind with black fur." Aftran drew back, saying confusedly, " But you are a Norn, too! What do you mean by 'my kind'?!" Toomin remembered that the strange Norn he had seen when this had first begun had mentioned that he was not a true Ketran, but a sub-breed of Norn. "Never mind," he muttered. Deciding that it wasn't wise to press the matter further, Aftran said, "Why don't you go play with the others; make some friends?" Toomin nodded, and went over to the group.  
  
When Toomin arrived at the play area, he was met with unsettling stares. "Wow, you have four eyes! Cool!" spoke one Norn after a long silence. "Oh. Well, thanks." Toomin said nervously. The Norn who had spoken was a reddish brown version of Aftran, except there were some differences in spots, and he had bigger ears. "You have wings! Can you fly?" blurted out a dark brown Norn with funny hair and small horns on his head. Before Toomin could answer, another Norn asked a question. Before he knew it, Toomin was being interrogated mercilessly, but in a friendly way. He had barely enough time to answer before another question was asked. Soon, the questions thinned out, and a game of Bounce was started. He didn't know how to play at first, but after a while, he got the hang of it. But only when all the Norns collapsed in a tired, happy heap on the floor did Toomin realize that he had just made his first new friends.  
  
And he really didn't mind that they were aliens, too, because they were no longer so alien to him.  
  
  
  
  
  
Sorry to leave a cliffhanger there; I have some big things going on in the next chapter, and I wanted to leave some lead onto it! Please review this if you've gotten this far, even if you hate it! I always welcome feedback, whether it be negative or positive. I kinda like positive feedback more though… oh well, who doesn't! 


	3. Explanations

_A/N: Sorry 'bout the long wait! I had a bit of writer's block!_

Toomin awoke from his slumber with a fresh, happy feeling. It had been two days since his arrival at Incubatorium; he had made many friends, and had grown swiftly. He was now what the Norns universally considered to be a 'child'.  Turning to lie on his back, he put his hands behind his head, and reminisced on what had happened these past few days.

*                 *                 *

After his first play session, he had fallen asleep quickly, only to discover that when he awoke, it was still daytime, as he judged from the small sliver of light coming through a vent in the cave ceiling. He had asked Aftran why this was. 

"What a strange question! Haven't you always lived this way?!" Aftran had  asked, startled.

"No, well, um…I'm just wondering, that's all," he had stuttered, lamely.

"Well, our planet is not a sphere, like all the other planets in the universe. Instead, it is disk shaped; the reason why you'll learn later. This is, however, the reason north and south are largely irrelevant directions to go. Our planet orbits a star, which we call "Ching-ah-so". This star is in a great ball of space gas called a nebula. In fact, just outside this cavern is the clearest potion of the sky in the world. Anyway, several alien starships have come across the centuries, and from them, we have learned that most planets have days lasting anywhere from 9 hours to 45 hours. We have sixteen days per year, and according to them, each day lasts approximately 548 hours in their trade standard. There are four days per season, and four seasons per year." Aftran had explained. When Toomin nodded like he understood, she had eyed him fishily. "You're more than you're letting on aren't you?" she had said slowly.

"Well…I guess so."

"You are from the Outside, no?."

"How do I know?! I don't even know what the Outside is!" he had yelled more forcefully than he had intended. After a punishing glare, Aftran had explained, "The Outside is anywhere beyond the Great Temple of the Ryugin. The people there are rumored to be very different from us here. They're supposed to be a rough crowd, the Outsiders; but then, geography isn't my talent. We Norns of the Incubatorium don't usually welcome Outsiders very warmly. However, you happen to be an exception."

"Oh. Well, I guess I'm from the Outside. I got here by using the teleporter." Toomin had said, glad that he was one of those labeled 'welcome'.

"I see. That would explain why you came from the direction of the teleporter."

Just then, a Norn that looked a lot like Aftran had appeared, except that this Norn was male, and he had splotches of grey in his reddish fur.

"Is this the Outsider?" the red Norn had demanded.

"Yes, father." Aftran had said. Toomin looked at the red Norn again. He could see the similarity.

"I researched the flying breeds. His kind don't show up anywhere in the computer search. It's impossible for a new breed to show up this quickly, without even a key to its evolutionary predecessors in the search results."

"If it is a new breed, do you think…"

"No. That old prophecy is nothing but a load of dung."

"But he looks so much like the drawings…"

"No. If the prophecy was true, then – "

"May I join in?" a voice had said, cutting off the old red Norn. Toomin, who had been all but forgotten by Aftran and the old red, looked up, and saw a Norn unlike any he had seen so far. It was bright turquoise, with a white belly and ruby red eyes. Its body, limbs, and tail looked fairly normal, but on its neck were faint horizontal slits. Toomin shuddered. Gills. They were purely theoretical back on Ket, but now, Toomin had learned to expect anything. Still, they made him squirm. Concentrating back on the Norn, who was walking closer to them, he saw that it had a face that was very similar to his, except that its muzzle was more squarish. Its ears were like his, except that one was a bit higher that the other, giving the Norn a lop-eared look. The Norn, which was male, spoke up again and said, "Oh my. Is this our newcomer? Surely he deserves a warmer welcome that the one you're giving him, Amadeus?" The red Norn, which Toomin assumed was Amadeus, retorted, "His welcome was good enough, especially for an Outsider, Faycune."

"Ah, yes, nothing like discrimination, is there, Amadeus?" said the blue Norn, which Toomin labeled as Faycune.

"It isn't discrimination, only caution! You're lucky you were welcomed here!" Amadeus had said nastily. Aftran had then said, "Father, don't get carried away, now!" As Aftran and her father had launched into a new argument, Faycune had slipped off, and Toomin, who had been completely forgotten by Aftran and Amadeus, followed. "Who are you?" Toomin had asked as they walked through the fruit patch (which Toomin had learned were called 'tomatoes'), and through some leafy plants.

"Me? Well, you must have heard back there. I'm Faycune, at your service. You must be Toomin, the newcomer?" Faycune had said.

"Um, yes. You're an Outsider, too?"

"Of course. I was born in the Shalla Ocean. My kind, the Fenkuns, can breathe on land and in water. Most of my kind prefer the oceans, but I guess I'm the oddball." Faycune had smiled cheerfully as he said this, as if he was proud of the fact that he was odd.

"I heard Amadeus and Aftran back there discussing some 'prophecy'," Toomin said, changing the subject. They emerged out of the plants, passed the teleporter, and into a busy area bustling with Norns. There were tan Norns with big, stiff ears, green Norns with yellow hair, and floppy eared Norns with white hair. Toomin had seen one of his play friends, a brown Norn with a mane named Huchi. He had waved at Huchi, then listened as Faycune explained, "Well, you've heard of the Great Temple of the Ryugin, right?"

"Yes," Toomin had said.

"The temple honors the fifteen powers of Albion, named the Ryugin, singular, Ryug. There was one for every 'element' of Albion: lightning, wind, lava, ice, thunder, fire, gemstones and metals, seasonal passage and the sun, water, soil, darkness, moon, time, light, and space. Their names were Laidos, Fenkun, Volcanor, Aitucu, Brakou, Firwen, Chrono, Houou, Ryugia, Kairo, Houndour, Subil, Serebii, Mensu, and Magutu. Supposedly, they ruled Albion in ancient times, and it was a sort of paradise for us Norns."

"What happened?"

"Well, Houndour of Darkness rose up against the others. He wanted more control and power over Albion. There was a big war, and nearly all the Norns died. Houndour was eventually defeated when Volcanor of Lava threw him down Albion's only volcano. However, when the Ryugin saw the damage, they were shamed. The Ryugin disappeared from Albion, and the remaining Norns erected a temple in their remembrance. Around that time, a strange being was said to arrive. He had no body, only a single, floating hand. This being cared for the Norns, and brought them back to their previous level. Around the year –4,550, the Hand, as it was called, disappeared."

"What does this have to do with the prophecy?"

"Well, a year ago, the temple was claimed to have been fully explored: no unknown niches, nooks, secret compartments, or crannies left. About a season after this statement was made, though, a young explorer named Tetch found a new room that had been hidden behind a statue of Fenkun of Wind. The room had strange hieroglyphics on it. But, perhaps the strangest thing of all was a type of writing only seen once before: in some mysterious scrolls, which had been undeciphered for nearly a decade. The decoders got to work on it immediately, and found that the writing in the room stated that there was a chamber somewhere in Albion, built with the last dreg of Houndour's power, which only the prophesied one could open. This chamber supposedly held the Hand, and the key to ultimate power over Albion, as well as control over 'the beast within' that would be used to purge the world of all life. The explorers took no heed of the need for the 'chosen one', and went on a frantic search for it. They found nothing but a new room in the temple. In this room, they found more writing. The writing gave a more specific description of the 'chosen one'. It said that 'a beggar, an heir, and another in likeness' would accompany the chosen one. And, it provided a hieroglyph of what appears to be you."

Toomin had stopped abruptly. "What?!" he had shouted, so that many of the vendors in their stands and the passersby in the hall had looked at him."

"You know what I said. The picture was of you. Anyway, after this discovery, the explorers went on a new hunt for the Chamber of Houndour, as it was called, but to no avail. There have been no new searches since. However, since there is no one like you that we know of, the prophecy must not be true, and the chamber must not exist." Toomin had acknowledged this, but he had had a strange feeling that it was indeed true.

After this discussion, Toomin and Faycune had bought a strange fruit (at least to Toomin) called a 'carrot' from a vendor, then, splitting it, had walked back to the children's area.

*                 *                 *

Toomin's thoughts were interrupted by a commotion by the vendor's market.  He rolled off his bed, and, with a little flutter of his wings (they were fast maturing; it wouldn't be long before he was able to fly), landed on the ground. He shuffle-ran toward the commotion. As he pushed his way through the plants, he caught a glimpse of something grey. He pushed the last of the leaves away.

Toomin gave a yelp of surprise at the sight before him.

A/N: Sorry about the cliffhanger! It was necessary to lead up to the next chapter! Please review, even if you hate it!


	4. The Reunion

Toomin couldn't believe what he saw.

Several Norns, including Faycune and Aftran, were gathered around what appeared to be an exact replica of Toomin, standing in the middle. Except that it was female, the ears were a bit smaller, and the wings were larger. In fact, it looked a lot like –

"Doffnall!" Toomin yelled loudly.

"Toomin? But I thought…you…it…" said Aguella confusedly.

"I thought that I was the only one too!"

"No, that's not it…but…how did you get _here_? I didn't wake up near civilization!"

"I used a teleporter. But, you couldn't have…could you…wait a minute, did you fly here?!"

"Yes. Can't you?"

"No, not yet. Where did you come from? Where were you born?"

"Well, I was…born, you could say, in a tree-house on the surface. The locals sort of, well…raised me, and when I was able to fly, I set off in search of any others"

"Ah. Wait a minute…others!? How did you know…?"

"Gee Toomin, aren't you observant? That…that _thing_…whatever it was, told me that other Ketrans would be here. Didn't it tell you?"

Toomin racked his brains for a moment. He vaguely remembered what the Norn-thing had said about Aguella being brought back, as well as Menno and Exagal.

"Well, wouldn't that mean that Menno and Exagal, whoever he or she is, would be here too?" Toomin said.

"Of course! Stop being an idiot, Toomin! I searched all around the Great Desert; I didn't see any sign of them." Doffnall confessed.

"Well, I personally am not so sure that's a bad thing. I didn't like Menno; he creeped me out at the Dance By."

At this, his conversation with Doffnall was cut short by a rough shove. Toomin looked behind him and saw none other than Amadeus.

"I don't care whether you Outsiders are good news or bad; take your hides somewhere else." Amadeus growled.

Toomin was about to retort when Faycune, who had been discreetly watching from the back of the crowd, pushed his way forward and said, "Let them stay. They are only children, and they have nowhere else to go."

"Where will they stay? They can't stay in the Hatchery; I don't want them spoiling the young ones' minds with their poisonous knowledge."

"I'll take them. You keep your prejudice to yourself, Amadeus." 

Unable to launch into a full-blown verbal battle with all the others around, Amadeus scowled at him and muttered, "Fine."

Faycune steered Doffnall and him away, toward the lift. They stopped at a clear force field that revealed the floor beneath. Faycune pressed a green button nearby, and from the depths, a brown, cottage-like lift arose, greeting them with a cheery 'ding'. The door to the lift swung open. Faycune steered them inside. He pressed a green 'down' arrow, and they began to descend into a musty cavern. When they reached the bottom floor, Toomin looked down a dark hall lit only by torches spaced along the wall every few meters. Up ahead, Toomin caught a glint of silver. 

"This way," Faycune said, with a hint of annoyance in his voice. He led them down the hall. Strangely, a primal instinct deep down inside him told him not to go down there. Next to him, Doffnall shivered. Toomin now saw what the glint of silver had been. Towering at least a meter above him, a great silver statue of a bird stood before him. Its wings were spread as if it was about to take flight, and three glittering crystals glittered on its forehead. The crystals were nothing, however, to the eyes. Glinting and glimmering a cool blue even in the red torchlight, they seemed to stare right at him.

Toomin was snapped out of his faze by Faycune, who explained, "Nice isn't it? It was taken from the temple. Lots of the Outsiders objected (they're very religious; they believe most of the old stories), but in the end, the Incubatorial government won. At least they didn't take all the statues; the Outside government struck a deal with them. Only this one, and another further down the hall, were taken."

Toomin cast a side glance, seeing Doffnall staring at the statue, mouth wide open. She snapped out of her trance when they started down the hall again. Eventually, they came upon the second statue. It was of a great flaming bird, with fiery red jewels encrusted in its wings, which were folded back regally. The eyes were an orange, which caught the firelight strangely, making them appear to move side to side, as if searching for something. Although Toomin composed himself better this time, he hurried past with Faycune and Doffnall, eager to get out of the statue's gaze. Eventually, they came to a small door in the wall. Faycune pressed a barely visible button in the wall, and steered them inside. 

Toomin looked upon a warm, cozy office, with a cheery fire burning in the fireplace. There was a green door at the back of the room. Doffnall shook her head and said, "I'll never get used to doors. They're so…"

"Unnatural." Toomin finished for her. They both laughed.

"It's good to have you back Doffnall." Toomin admitted.

"Yeah. Otherwise, I'd have no one around to make me look good!" Doffnall said jokingly. Toomin gave her a small punch, and they both laughed. Behind them, Faycune cleared his throat. Still grinning, they both turned to face him.

"Well, if you all are done, I'll show you to your room. He stride over to a small pad on the wall, punching in some numbers, and what seemed to be a bookcase moved aside, revealing a room. Faycune bowed animatedly, showing them inside. Toomin and Doffnall giggled at his antics. They shuffled inside, where they found two hammock-beds, and what appeared to be a vending machine.

"That machine over there vends fruit. Simply select which fruit you wish to have, and press 'Enter'." Faycune said. 

"Okay." Doffnall said with a hint of laughter sill ringing in her voice.

"A shower and a toilet are through the green door you saw earlier in the common room." Faycune said, smiling, as he left the room. Toomin sat down on the hammock, remembering the green door, and the conversation with Doffnall. He looked at her. She still had lovely pods…

'Still not the point, Toomin!' he thought to himself. However, he didn't take his eyes off her as looked up, until he met her bright green eyes. He gazed at her, and she gazed back; Toomin was drowning in those eyes, and yet he never looked away. The feeling was intense, when then, Doffnall looked away, toward the vending machine. 

"I'm hungry. Want something?" Doffnall said as she gestured toward the machine.

"I guess so," Toomin muttered, disappointed that eye contact had been broken so soon, and angry that Doffnall had treated that moment like it as nothing. He mentally shook himself. 'Don't be stupid, Toomin,' he thought. 'She's your friend, of course she would act that way! When she _moned_ you back at the Dance By, it was just a big a mistake…don't be foolish!' The sensory memory of the _mones_ had perished along with his former body, but the mental memory would always be with him. And although it felt guilty to admit it openly, even to himself, he secretly wished that she would do it again. 

Toomin was snapped out of his trance by a nudge from Doffnall. "Hello? You there, Toomin? Don't float away from me now!" Doffnall said jokingly, shoving a tomato into his lap. He picked up the fruit, and began to munch on it, musing. Doffnall looked down at her tomato. He slapped himself mentally. 'Now you've blown it! You hurt her feelings, you big oaf!'

Toomin was shaken out of these thoughts by an intense wave of fatigue. Until then, he hadn't realized how tired he had been. 

"I'm tired," he stated, stifling an enormous yawn. 

Doffnall yawned herself before saying "Me too,". Toomin laid down on his hammock, placing the tomato on the floor. Soon, he was fast asleep. Doffnall, however, lay awake for several minutes before she, too, finally fell asleep.


	5. Sightings

A/N: When I refer to 'minutes' and 'hours', I mean Albian minutes and hours, not ours. Remember, an Albian day, if in real-time, would last quite a bit longer than our days!

Toomin woke with a jolt. A loud banging noise coming from outside had aroused him from his slumber. He wondered what it was, until a sliding noise was heard. The voices of Faycune and another Norn carried through the walls. He realized that the unknown Norn must have been knocking on the door. "I'll never, _ever_ get used to doors," Toomin grumbled to no one in particular. He rolled out of his hammock, landing on the floor with his pods. He looked around for the tomato he had left on the floor the night before, but it was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, he spotted his tomato. It was _moving_, all by itself, toward a small hole in the wall. Toomin shuffled toward the tomato. It gained speed. Just as the tomato was about to disappear inside the hole, Toomin lunged forward and grabbed the tomato. Beneath was a small, purple and yellow bug. Its tiny head turned upward, and with a frightened little squeak, zoomed through the hole in the wall. 

"Ants. I've had problems with them lately." a voice said from behind him. Toomin whirled around, startled. He calmed when he saw it was only Faycune.

"Come into the common room. Aguella is in the shower. She seems to be enjoying it, as she has been in there for at least 10 minutes." Faycune said, with a twinkle in his eye. Toomin heard gurgling noises through the green door as he stepped into the main room.

"Who was that? At the door, I mean," Toomin asked.

"It was Machise, a Horse Norn. He's my neighbor, and he seems to think that my clock is a bit…_noisy_." Faycune gestured toward a rather beautiful clock, which made hardly any noise at all.

"Take a seat," said Faycune, gesturing toward a big, blue, squishy looking chair. Faycune sat down in a comfy looking red chair across from it. He stared at Toomin thoughtfully for a long time before finally saying, "There's an interesting bit of information flying around, Toomin."

"Really? What's that?" Toomin asked interestedly.

"Well, not all of Incubatorium is obsessed with keeping out the Outsiders. Over in the Palm Café area, about an hour before you came, I heard, from a Golden Desert Norn that's a friend of mine, that he saw a strange light in the south. It was almost as if a ship was landing on the surface. When the Golden went to investigate, there was nothing there."

"So?"

"So, there was no ship. Only one species has ever been known to land their people without notifying us, then take off: the Yeerks." As he said 'Yeerk', Faycune grimaced in an unmistakable look of hatred.

"What are Yeerks?" Toomin wondered.

"Yeerks are parasites. In their own form, they are nothing but gray slugs that slosh around in a shallow pool. But, they have a unique ability: they can enter the brains of sentient creatures, and take utter, absolute control over its body. The Yeerks have been doing just that for years: they have taken the Hork-Bajir, the Taxxons, the Sstram, and even a few Leerans. Two years ago, they tried to take us. But, although we may not have spacecraft, we have technology that outstrips theirs on the ground. Unable to move against us on the surface, and unable to get a safe angle from which to annihilate us from orbit, the Yeerks left."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Toomin asked.

"Well, yes and no. The Yeerks may be gone now, but that is no guarantee that they won't be back." 

Toomin leaned back into his chair. He stared at a seven-foot tall metal sculpture of some kind. "What is that?" Toomin asked, pointing towards the statue.

"That? It's a metal replica of a Hork-Bajir. It was used for training back when the Yeerks were still at large." Faycune explained.

Toomin looked at the statue again. It was tall, reptile-like, and was covered in blades. He shivered, thinking, 'I definitely would not like to meet one of those.'

Just then, Doffnall opened the green door, and shuffled out. She had a dreamy look on her face, as if she had woken up from a particularly good nap. "Well then, the shower's free now, so why don't you take one, now, Toomin?" Faycune said with a humorous glint in his eye. Toomin got off his chair, and shuffled toward the door. When he was in the room he closed he door. In one corner, there was a small, silver bowl that smelt strongly of ashes. In the opposite corner there was a white stall with a glass door. Toomin went into the stall. A silver spout was on one wall. Tomin saw a green button. Closing the glass door, he pushed it.

It was like nothing he had ever felt before. Water, actual, real water, came pouring out of the spout, and onto him. It flowed down his hot, dirty body and washed the filth out of his feathers. He felt as if he had died and gone to heaven.

*                  *                  *

Tomin stepped out of the green door. He had the same dreamy expression as Doffnall had had.   
  


"All right, Toomin," Faycune said, snapping Toomin out of his trance. "Doffnall and I were thinking that we could visit the Palm Café to grab a bite to eat."

"Sounds good to me," replied Toomin. 

"This way, then" Faycune pushed a button near the main door, and walked outside. Doffnall and he followed. Faycune led them further down the dark hallway, until they reached a lift. Music and conversation could be heard through the shaft. They boarded the lift, and Faycune pushed the 'up' button.

When they reached the top, Toomin saw that they were on a wide platform. A small, green machine blared out music, and several tables held groups of eating, chatting, and relaxing Norns. A Norn with golden fur and a scruffy, unkempt mane of brown fur waved to Faycune.

"That would be Gyp. He told me about his sighting." said Faycune. They walked over to the table where Gyp was sitting.

"'Ello, ol' Faycune! I see 'oo brought the two new 'uns, eh?" Gyp boomed loudly.

"Yes, Gyp." Faycune answered. A tall Forest Norn carrying a pad and a pen arrived. "What would you all wish to order, my fellows?" he said in a pompous tone.

"Four tomatoes." Faycune said curtly. The waiter strutted off, while Gyp launched into conversation with Faycune.

"So, these 'r the two that 'r suppos'dly in that ol' proph'cy, eh?" said Gyp.

"Yes. Now Gyp, about that ship you saw…did you see anything else?" Faycune said in a low voice.

"Well, it d'pends on what 'oo mean by _anythin' else_," Gyp said as lowly as he could with his great booming voice. At that moment, the pompous waiter returned with four tomatoes balanced precariously on a tray. Toomin took his, passing Doffnall's to her, but Faycune and Gyp ignored theirs.

"What do you mean, Gyp?" Faycune asked.

Gyp replied, "Well, ol' me di'nt see anythin', but me friend Tarchas did. Maybe we should go ask 'im."

"Well then, let's go." Faycune said, beckoning to Toomin and Doffnall to come with. They quickly finished their tomatoes, and followed Gyp and Faycune to the lift. Gyp pushed the 'up' button. The lift took them up to the surface. For the first time, Toomin saw the sky. It was night, but the moonlight shone brightly enough for Toomin to see around him. They were in a dry, blank desert. Toomin looked to his right. The land stretched on for about half a mile, then cut off very suddenly. They followed Gyp through the desert. Toomin looked surprised as Doffnall took off.

"Don't look so surprised. You can fly too, you know. Just try!" Doffnall said from above him. Toomin unfolded his wings. He stretched them, then beat them once. He floated up, then back down again. "Yaaah!" Toomin exclaimed in surprise. He tried again, this time, beating his wings in a steady pattern. He lifted off the ground. Using his instinctual knowledge of flight, he soon mastered it. He glided up to Doffnall.

"There, see now, that wasn't _that_ hard, was it?" said Doffnall. Toomin grinned goofily at her. He did a loop-the-loop around her, then zoomed off after Gyp and Faycune. He looked back. Doffnall was close behind him. He lowered his altitude so he was just off the ground, then turned abruptly around. Doffnall collided with him, and they both crashed to the ground in a heap, laughing. Toomin saw Faycune and Gyp down by a dock, so they got up and rushed toward them. Right as they arrived, Gyp was untying a small boat from the end of the dock.

"Tarchas lives on the ol' dock on the oth'r side," Gyp explained.

Faycune got in the boat, unfazed by the water. Toomin and Doffnall reluctantly followed. They still harbored the old instincts that told them not to go near water. Gyp pushed a large button on a post in the middle of the boat, and they swiftly moved out into the ocean.

*                  *                  *

A boat trip and an hour later, their boat came to dock on an old dock that led to a steep wall. Part of the wall slid aside, and a green Norn with floppy ears and yellow hair stepped out.

"'Ello, Tarchas!" exclaimed Gyp.

"Hello, Gyp." Tarchas said much more calmly.

Faycune said, "Sorry to bother you, but Gyp said that you saw another ship. Can you describe it to us?"

Tarchas smiled slyly. "Not until I'm acquainted with these two."

Faycune quickly said, "This is Toomin and Doffnall."

"They look like they might be from that old prophecy, don't you think? It could be true, you know; after all, you already have the chosen one, the one in likeness, and the heir. All you need is the beggar."

Toomin wondered who the heir was, until Faycune exclaimed, "This isn't about the prophecy; it's about that sighting! This is very important, Tarchas!" 

Tarchas smiled wryly at him. "Well, I didn't really _see_ anything other than a big, black-on-black shadow," he said. "It was a ship, all right; it launched two smaller objects that went racing toward the Dark Ocean. But, before it left, I got a good glimpse of its shape."

"What did it look like?" Faycune pressed.

"Oh, it was an interesting shape, all right. It was shaped like a big, black battle axe."


	6. The Departure

A/N: If you were confused about the ending last chapter, have no fear! It will all be explained in its due time! Also, to make it more 'realistic', I made the world wider, so don't flame at me saying that 'it's not like that in the game'! 

"A Blade ship," Faycune said grimly.

"What? A Blade ship? What's a Blade ship?" Toomin wondered aloud.

Faycune closed his eyes. When he opened them, there was a strange, eerie glint in his eyes. "A Blade ship is a very, very powerful Yeerk vessel; it has beam weapons powerful enough to annihilate a city in a matter of minutes. They are only owned by Vissers, which are powerful Yeerk generals. The Vissers are numbered according to status; with Visser One being the highest down through Visser Forty or so. As to the number on the Visser on board; well, we'll just have to see." Faycune explained, slowly.

"But if a Visser is here with his Blade ship, then wouldn't other ships be here as well? You know, to support him?" blurted Doffnall.

"Not necessarily. There have been no other sightings, and since a Pool ship is twice the size of a Blade ship, it would have been seen. Aside from a few Bug fighters, and a number a small two-person transports, the Blade ship is probably alone."

Tarchas looked up at the sky. "Well, you guys had best be getting on your little ways now, seeing as it'll be dawn in a few minutes," Tarchas said with a curt tone. "I'll be smacked out of my wits by Gunthay if I'm a nanosecond late with the horn-blowing." He gestured toward a large, whimsical-looking horn that sat on the edge of the dock. Without another word, Gyp, Faycune, Doffnall, and Toomin climbed back into their small boat.

When they reached shore, they walked (and flew) down the road back to the lift. As they were almost in sight of it, they first light rays of the day shone upon the world, and a great baying, trumpeting sound was heard across the land. After reaching the café, and saying farewell to Gyp, Faycune led the way back to his small apartment.

Once inside, Toomin asked, "Gyp's and Tarchas' face and ears are different from the Norns' at Incubatorium. Why?"

Faycune forced a laugh and said, "Well, a long time ago, there were only six breeds: Banana, Horse, Fox, Forest, Ron, and Purple Mountain. After the Rebuilding of Albion after the Great War, three races were found that had been mutated from the originals: Hebe, Malay, and Alba; at least that's what they called themselves. The originals regarded them as…well, as freaks. That's the source of all the animosity between Incubatorium and the rest of Albion: the originals, which live here, think of themselves as pure, while the Outsiders think they are more highly evolved. Tarchas is a Malay/Alba mix, and Gyp is pure Golden Desert, which is a breed descending from a desert-going band of the original Malays."

Toomin didn't reply. He was thinking more about the Blade ship than Faycune's explanation. He had already lost one way of life. He didn't want to lose another.

*                           *                           *

An hour later, Faycune called Toomin into the common room. Toomin, who had been sleeping fitfully, rolled out of his hammock. He noted that Doffnall's hammock was empty. He wondered why. 'Why do you care, Toomin?' he thought to himself as he shuffled into the room.

Toomin's eyes widened. Faycune was packing a large, dark green backpack full of supplies, food, and an assortment of tools. He saw Faycune slip a bulky blue gun into a hidden compartment in the pack. Faycune looked up. Toomin's lazy manner quickly shaped up after seeing the grim, troubled look on Faycune's face. "About time you responded to me. No one is being sent after those transports the Blade ship launched," Faycune said with quiet fury. "Amadeus seems to think that it 'was all a figment of some idiot Outsider's imagination'…" Faycune's words lowered to inaudible whispers. Toomin asked, "Well, could it have been?"

"No. Although Tarchas may not be the nicest fellow around, he's one of the smartest, and one of the most sharp-eyed. If anyone could spot a Blade ship, it'd be him. Besides, Amadeus wouldn't know if a dozen Hawjabran freighters flew overhead. All he does is skulk around his precious Incubator cavern all day, never bothering to look at the sky."

Doffnall came out from the bathroom with a small bottle of a purple liquid. "You wanted the Gelsemium potion, right?" she asked. Faycune answered, "Yes. Put it in the small pouch on front." He struggled to fold a thick blanket as Toomin asked, "Um, I hate to sound like an idiot, but, where are we going?"

"Well, if no one is going after that Blade ship, then I am. I was one of their best during the first war. Don't worry, I'm not going alone; several of my closest friends are coming with me. You are coming, too, of course."

Toomin rocked back. "What? But…how are we supposed to help? We aren't even mature yet!"

"Don't think you can fool me. You two know far more than you're letting on, I can sense it. Anyway, both of you can fly, which would be a great asset to this mission."

Toomin was speechless. He was about to tell Faycune that he wouldn't go, when Faycune said, "If you don't want to go, that's fine. Doffnall's coming with me; she told me so herself." Doffnall smiled meekly from behind Faycune.

"I'm in," Toomin said without a second thought. There was no way he was going to make himself look like a coward in front of Doffnall.

"Good. The more people we have, the better chances we have of taking down whatever forces they have down there." Faycune said as he stuffed the barely-folded blanket into the backpack. He threw a smaller pack to Toomin and Doffnall each, and said, "Here, use these. Take as many useful items as you can carry."

Doffnall and Toomin packed in silence. Not for the first time, Toomin wondered what sort of Norns they would meet out beyond Incubatorium. His chain of thoughts was broken when Faycune announced, "Alright, we're ready. We don't have much food, but there will be food along the way, I'm sure of it."

Toomin picked up his backpack as Faycune turned off the various machines and gadgets in the room. He shifted uncomfortably, then said to Doffnall, "Well, if we have to go on this crazy little adventure, at least we're going into it together, right?"

"Yeah," Doffnall responded. "Somehow, having friends around makes it a little less terrifying."

"Not by much."

They both laughed. Faycune then beckoned to them, turned off the lamp and led the way out into the hall.

The hall had sort of a misty, early-morning feel to it. They passed only a drowsy Purple Mountain Norn who was sipping a blue liquid. The Norn barely acknowledged them as they whisked past him. Toomin and Doffnall had to flutter to keep up with Faycune's brisk pace. Eventually, Faycune led them to the lift they had used earlier. They went upward into the same café they had visited the previous night. Faycune pushed the up button once more. They emerged into the golden-yellow morning sun. A large, ornate building loomed up before them. Toomin thought to himself, 'It must have been dark out last night for me not to notice such a big building.' He shrugged off the thought, and followed the others.

Faycune led them down the same path as they took last night, but took a fork in the road on the right side of the temple that led to a nearby cluster of barely visible buildings in the sand. Toomin took flight, and got there ahead of Faycune. Doffnall soared up next to him. When they got to the village, they circled overhead until Faycune caught up. They saw Faycune enter a low, domed building. Toomin swooped down, and landed neatly on the doorstep. He entered, with Doffnall right behind him.

He appeared to be in a kind of bar. Music blared out of speakers on the walls, and Norns of all shapes lurked around in the semidarkness, lit only by a few torches and glowing neon signs. He looked around, and he saw a few creatures that definitely were aliens. One of them, a fat, large-eared alien with a clown-like face shot Toomin a mean look. He quickly looked away, searching for Faycune. He spotted Faycune, who had just taken a seat next to a bright turquoise Hebe Norn, and started toward him. Suddenly, a big, bright green male Norn with vicious claws and a long, sting-tipped tail got up from his seat abruptly, and plowed into Toomin. The Norn fell over on top of him, snarling. The Norn thrashed around, then, with amazing agility, sprang up. Toomin had about a millisecond to say, 'whew', when the Norn clasped one of his large pincers over his throat, and lifted him up.

"_Yohon tinkiyohon yohon dodah dobegho?_"

"I…gak…" Toomin responded. He looked helplessly down at Doffnall.

"_Mahohee mahnso!_" someone said. Toomin looked around wildly for the source of the voice. He saw Faycune, standing next to the Norn that was choking him. Faycune pulled out the blue gun that Toomin had seen him pack.

"_Way mahrnsoh, mahohee mahnso!_" Faycune said firmly.

The green Norn dropped him, shot Faycune an ugly look, and returned to his seat. Faycune went back to the table with the Turquoise Hebe. Doffnall scuttled after Faycune, and after he'd given his neck a good massage, Toomin followed. When he got there, the Hebe pulled out a chair for him. Toomin sat, and thanked him.

"No need," the Hebe said. He realized that the Norn was female.

Faycune finally spoke up and said, "I see you got into a bit of a tangle with that Scorpio Norn, Toomin."

Toomin protested, "It wasn't my fault! That Norn attacked me after I bumped into him! It was an accident!"

Faycune smiled. "Ah, yes. Well, Scorpios are notorious for two things: not being able to tell the difference between an attack and an accident, and dishing out ten times more than they received."

"Who's she?" Doffnall asked, pointing to the Hebe Norn.

"She? Well, that's what we came here for. Meet the first new member of our little adventure group."


	7. Nova Subterria

A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in so long! Fanfiction.net was down (as you may have noticed), so I couldn't upload anything!

"This is Arrelia," Faycune said casually. "Seeing as she's one of the many Norn herbologists, she's our plant  expert."

"Hello. You must be Toomin," she said, gazing at him, then turning to face Doffnall. "And you must be Doffnall. A pleasure to meet you both."

Toomin heard a ringing noise from under the table. Arrelia reached down, and pulled out a small pad. She read what was on the screen with apparent interest, and then said, "Sorry for that interruption. Where were we?"

Before anyone could answer, a faint tremor raced through the table. It stopped. Toomin had a half-second to think "_what?_" when the vibrating started again, escalating to a wild, chaotic quaking that shook drinks off the tables, and torches from their holsters. Screams and shouts echoed to the domed ceiling, and a roaring noise grew in magnitude until Toomin thought his ears would explode. Through blurry eyes, he saw Doffnall crouching, eyes shut, hands over her ears. Toomin flinched as a blaster was set off by the vibrations, and hit a fat, beaked alien that had on its head an antenna with bulbs running down it.

"Aaaaaahhhhhgggggghh! Ebe!" the alien screamed as it dropped to the floor, while the alien that had given Toomin the mean look earlier yelled, "Bullseye! _Me bunke!_ Noooooooo!"

Suddenly, the vibrations abruptly stopped. A bone-chilling scream was heard from far off, a scream that bore down into his brain and touched Toomin in a way that sent his knees quaking, and made his blood run cold. The last chilling tones cut through the air, leaving an icy feeling in the room, as if the very scream itself had cooled the atmosphere. For the first time since he walked in, there was absolute silence, save for the music that blared on unhindered from the radio.

Slowly, people rose up from their hiding spots beneath tables and chairs. Within minutes, everything was back to normal, it seemed. 

"What was that?" Doffnall asked.

"I don't know exactly," Faycune responded. "All I know for sure is that I heard something like it a day and a half ago, right before you came. Rumor has it that it's the call of, you know…'the beast within'."

"Perhaps we should leave?" suggested Arrelia.

"Good idea. We probably should get going, anyway, if we want to find out what that Blade ship was up to." Faycune said.

Toomin shifted the backpack strapped to his chest, then got up as Faycune and Arrelia rose and made their way toward the door. They exited the cool of the bar into the blistering heat of the desert. Toomin blinked furiously, eyes watering in the intense light. He and Doffnall took flight, circling above Faycune. 

"Look up!" Doffnall exclaimed. Toomin turned his topmost eyes upward and saw a white figure silhouetted against the cloudless blue sky. The figure came closer, wheeling and diving, and Toomin saw that it was indeed a Norn. Vaguely, he remembered Aftran saying something about Angel Norns. The Norn called out to them, yelling, "Fine flying weather, isn't it?"

"You got that right!" Doffnall yelled back. The Angel Norn flew off. Toomin noted that it had no wings to speak of, but it floated as easily as they did on the breeze.

Toomin realized that Faycune and Arrelia had moved off while they were talking to the Angel Norn, so he and Doffnall flapped hard to catch up. He blew by the temple, and nearly ran smack into a support for a very large bridge. He banked a hard right, then cut his speed and landed. He shuffled over to where Doffnall had landed, albeit much more gracefully. The bridge was too narrow to fly down, so he dragged himself to where Arrelia and Faycune stood consulting a map.

Faycune folded the map, and said, "Up ahead is the Season Tree. The area is known for housing a group of Hebe, Malay, and Alba Norns that despise visitors, especially from Incubatorium. I suggest we stay in a group at all times."

"Okay, but first, can we eat something? I'm starved!" said Doffnall. She reached for some bright purple berries growing on a vine.

"NO! Don't touch them!" Arrelia exclaimed. Doffnall jerked back, then gazed at Arrelia quizzically. "Those berries are poison! They cause hallucinations, and contain a sleep toxin. I think they're called Ledum berries." Arrelia explained. "Here, eat this." She handed Doffnall and Toomin each a hunk of the bright yellow substance, called cheese.

"Let's get moving," Faycune said. "The Nova Subterrians will be less likely to let us in if it's midday."

Toomin munched his cheese as the group moved on, stopping only to gather what Arrelia called 'Bryonia berries'.

After a long and tiring hike, they came to the end of the bridge, where two surly-looking Malay guards stood. 

As soon as they came into view, one of the guards snarled, "State your business!"

"We're just passing through; we'll be in and out as quickly as possible." Faycune said curtly.

The guard gave him an ugly look but muttered, "Move along." Doffnall and he took flight, being careful not to run into any posts.

They immediately saw a large tree, with bright green leaves, and gnarled, twisting branches. Toomin even saw a small platform in the central nook of the tree. He looked down, and saw an important-looking scroll hanging at Norn-eye level. It had a picture of a fully leaved tree on it, with a large number three below that. Norns milled to and fro, sometimes stopping at one of the many vendors' stands that lined both sides of the wooden walkway. Doffnall flitted under the large canopy of branches, and Toomin dipped down after her.

Faycune stopped at a lift near the base of the tree, signaling for them to fly down. Arrelia was returning from a vendor's booth, carrying a sack of some small, yellow berries. Toomin went into a gentle stoop, and landed next to Faycune. Doffnall, on the other hand, flared too late, and plowed into Toomin. Dazed, he looked at Doffnall, who had landed on top of him. Strangely reluctantly, Doffnall pulled herself off him. Toomin got up, as a lift came up a shaft next to them.

"We'll take the lift down to the bottom floor hall. At the end of this hall is the entrance to Terra Nornica, which is much friendlier than here. In fact, it's a rather popular vacation spot." Faycune explained to them.

They took the lift down. Soon after, they stopped at a room with a small picnic area in it.

"Let's stop here and rest. The Subterrians won't mind if we're here any longer, will they?" Arrelia asked.

"No. But we had better the stop as brief as possible." Faycune replied.

Arrelia picked the most out-of-the-way table, and then unpacked their meal, which consisted of a small hunk of cheese and a tomato. As Toomin ravenously ate his tomato, Arrelia, who was casually munching her piece of cheese, one-handedly took out a sack from her backpack, and went over to a bush with small red berries hanging from its leafy fronds. Upon finishing her tomato, Arrelia began to pick some of the red berries.

"What're those?" asked Doffnall, between mouthfuls of cheese.

"Pulsatilla berries," responded Arrelia. "We're out of cheese and tomatoes, so I figured we should stock up.

"Ah."

Toomin finished his cheese. Looking at Faycune and Doffnall, he could see that they were done, also. Remembering the sack Arrelia had bought from the vendor, Toomin asked, "What was in that sack you bought?"

Arrelia responded, "Arnica berries. They contain Arnica, the only known cure for Glycotoxin poisoning. They're a valued medicine that only grows on a species of vine that grows on the season tree."

Toomin nodded. Faycune looked at Arrelia, and said, "Well, we'd best be going. We're to hook up with Netogen, a friend of mine. He's an archeologist."

They packed up, and went back to the lift. As their lift settled on the bottom floor, Arrelia exclaimed, "Look! Gelsemium!" while pointing down the hall to their left.

"What's that?" asked Doffnall.

"It's a very valuable medicine. Even more so than the Arnica berries, for the fruit will only survive off the plant for an hour! We must collect some!" Arrelia's eyes were dancing like a child's would in a toy shop.

"Well, make it brief, Arrelia. I'm getting a bad feeling from here." Faycune said nervously.

They quickly moved down the hall. As they passed a giant pillar, Toomin thought he saw something – or some_one_ – move in the shadows. He suddenly got a feeling that something was very, very wrong. He shook off the feeling, mentally shaking himself. '_Get a grip,_' he thought to himself. They crossed a wooden board that was laid across the floor, and then proceeded into a small cavern. A strange, twisted plant grew in a moldy, old pot. Arrelia quickly pulled out a bag and began stuffing it full of the bell shaped fruits. 

Toomin casually looked around, then glanced over his shoulder. A flash of tan could be seen for a split second, and then it melted into the shadows.

"Uh…guys…" Toomin said fearfully.

Arrelia tied the bag shut, then put it in a pouch in her pack. "Ready."

Faycune led the group out of the cavern. They crossed out onto the wooden board. Once again, Toomin got that sense of wrongness. In about a split second, he realized what he had overseen. But by then, it was too late.

The board gave way, and the entire group went plunging into the darkness.

_A/N: Heh heh. Left ya another cliffhanger. Ah, well, it'll all be cleared up in the next chapter. Many thanks to all the readers who have read this far, you are appreciated greatly! Sorry about the slight lag in updates, but I recently went to El Paso, Texas for the Junior Olympic Regional Championship track competition. I placed fifth in the high jump. Oh well, fifth place isn't _that_ bad!!!_


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